


Hearts Colored Jealousy

by GrudgeDemon (diedraechin)



Category: Skip Beat!
Genre: F/M, One Shot, Romance, post chapter 240
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-19 13:46:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8210732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/diedraechin/pseuds/GrudgeDemon
Summary: Secrets reveal themselves and jealousy bubbles to the surface.  Ren returns from filming in Guam to discover that his relationship with Kyoko isn’t how he left it and he has no idea what to do about it.  Post chapter 240.





	1. Heart Colored Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

> This little fic bunny bit me right after reading chapter 240 and was totally inspired by the expressions on Yashiro's face throughout the chapter. Of course I decided to take those expressions and jump to the worst possible conclusions.

**_*Two years ago*_ **

Ren kept his smile on while the cast party continued.  He’d been ready to leave over an hour ago, but he couldn’t be the first one.  He couldn’t even join the older cast members for a drink since he was still under the legal age in Japan.  He would have rather been working.  Even if attending a cast party was technically work, it wasn’t as enjoyable as acting.

“You don’t look like you’re having nearly as fun as everyone else.”  Kimiko sat down next to him and smiled.

“I don’t?”  He brightened his smile a little.  “I really am, though.  But it’s a bit sad as well.”

She tilted her head to the side and her hair fell over her shoulder.  “Sad?”

“Well, we won’t get to see each other anymore.”  Ren looked around the room and when he looked back, he saw that Kimiko had a blush covering her cheeks.  He hurried on before he could be misunderstood.   “The whole cast had so much fun on the shoot.”

She sighed.  “We did.  Maybe there’ll be a  _ Purple Down III _ .”

Ren chuckled.  “I don’t know, I think we’ve ended the story in a good place, don’t you?”

“But I won’t get to see you everyday when we’re filming anymore, Tsuruga-san.”  She pouted.

Ren took a deep breath.  It had been awhile since the last time, and Kimiko was his type.  He mentally shook his head.  That wouldn’t be a good idea, considering who her family was.  They were all over the industry.  Yashiro would have his head for even thinking such a thing.  “There’s always the chance that we’ll work in something again.”

She reached out and laid her fingers on his wrist.

***

“Thank you for driving me home since my father wanted to stay longer.”

Ren nodded.  “It’s not a problem.  I don’t mind at all.”

“So many actors and actresses don’t drive themselves, I’m surprised that you do.”

Ren smiled. “Well, I like driving, and when I had a chance to buy this car a few months ago, I couldn’t resist.”  He smiled over at her.  It wouldn’t do to hurt his manager’s image. He knew that Yashiro not being able to drive was a sore spot with him.  “When do I make the turn off?”

Kimiko continued to give him directions, and he pulled into the long drive of her house in Azabu.  It wasn’t actually that far from the president’s villa so he wouldn’t have trouble navigating back to his own apartment.  At least he didn’t think so.

“Come in for some coffee?  It’s the least I could do since you drove me back.  Please?”  Kimiko looked at him with a worried expression.  “I would feel awful if I knew that you left without me repaying your kindness.”

Ren nodded and got out of the car with her.  They headed up the walk and into the house.  It was obvious that no one was home.  

Kimiko started to turn on the lights when they entered.  “How about I take you on a tour of the house?” She clasped her hands behind her back and smiled.

“All right.”  He followed her down a long hallway and into her bedroom.

When he left over an hour later, he still hadn’t had any coffee.

***

**_*Present, Tokyo*_ **

Yashiro sighed and followed Kyoko onto the manor grounds.  She ran ahead of him and met up with Kotonami-san, who was speaking with Uesugi-kun.  He hadn’t realised that Kyoko had known Uesugi Hiou at all, but apparently they were on good terms because Uesugi-kun called out to her. 

“Kyoko!  You’re almost late.  What were you doing?”

“I was looking something up on the internet at the offices and then I had a meeting for a CM.”

The three of them walked down the hall together toward the dojo and Yashiro trailed behind them.  The fact that Kyoko was researching Morizumi Kimiko made him uneasy.  She was, after all, one of the handful of black marks against Ren.

Yashiro had never expected Ren to be a choirboy, but for the first couple of years they’d worked together he had wished that he would have chosen his one-night-only lovers slightly more carefully.  Because it had always only been one night.  And they were usually his co-stars.  Kimiko had been one of the last.  The  _ Purple Down _ dramas had been a major turning point in Ren’s career, and even if he had wanted to continue the occasional tryst with a co-star, he had come to realise on his own that it wasn’t a good idea.  That he’d have to do the socially acceptable thing and date, but since he had no interest in that, he went without completely.  At least as far as Yashiro was aware.  Then Ren had met Kyoko.

So when Yashiro had gone to the talent section and seen Kyoko researching Morizumi, his blood had run cold.  If Kyoko figured it out… well, then she’d realise that all her claims about how much a playboy Ren was were sort of true, and… He sighed.

He actually, honestly liked Kyoko.  She was unlike all of the other girls that Ren had ever shown any sort of interest in.  She didn’t fit the mold of the more mature-looking women he’d taken into his bed.  Which might explain why it had taken Ren so long to figure out that he loved her.  He couldn’t deny it anymore.  He didn’t even bother, not to Yashiro anyway.  He didn’t confirm it either, but Yashiro knew, he loved that girl.

That girl who had her heart broken.  Shattered, really.  More than once in various ways.  Who had a whole book of justifiable trust issues, and not just because of one bad relationship.

Discovering that Ren could be a playboy was not ideal if he ever wanted to get them together.  And he did.  He’d been on a mission to do so for months.

So Yashiro had tried to point out how special Kyoko’s relationship was to Ren, how she was an exception to all the rules that Ren kept when it came to work, but, as to be expected, she had totally taken the hint and ran in an unintended direction.  Kyoko going on this audition for Momiji suddenly felt like a huge misstep.  Not for Kyoko, but for Ren and their hopefully soon-to-be-burgeoning relationship.

Yashiro turned his attention from his internal musings and paid closer attention to what Kyoko was working on with Uesugi-san.  He was surprised.  She was much better than he thought she’d be. After all, she’d told him in the car that she’d only been studying for a short time.  She was still making mistakes as the clubs were new to her, but her handling of them by no means indicated that she’d only been working with them for a day.  But then, Kyoko was an incredibly quick study.

***

**_*Guam*_ **

Ren stalked past the actors and took over an entire couch in the waiting room.  It was stupidly hot outside.  He looked around to see if that girl, Manaka, was around, and seeing that she wasn’t, he let his mind wander a little bit.

Of course it was wandering to Kyoko and everything that had happened after she left him in Guam.  His jaw locked and he grit his teeth.  How that girl was able to overcome all these obstacles astounded him.  But he still wasn’t sure that she was all right.  He hadn’t been given any information about what actually happened, but he seriously doubted that it was a loving and tender reunion.  “Something good” may have happened, but how could that have been when the woman had denied her daughter’s very existence?

He needed to stop thinking about this before he slipped out of “Cain.”  He looked around the room for something to focus on that would take his mind off Kyoko.  And settled on the one thing that wouldn’t.

There was a script for “The Lotus in the Mire” on the table in the waiting room.

Murasame glared at him as he leaned over and picked it up and started reading it.  Manaka bounced over to him and Ren immediately went on red alert.

“Did you get it?  The script?"

Murasame nodded.  “It arrived this morning by courier.  Though I don’t know why the rush.  Where I was going to have to go straight to filming that after this, instead I will have some time in between.  Supposedly.”

“Oh?”

“They haven’t finished casting for Chidori or Momiji yet.  It’s why I was able to take the job in the first place, but the audition process seems to be taking longer than they thought it would.”

Manaka nodded and looked over at “Cain.”  “Cain-san!  Can I get you some mineral water?”  Internally Ren sighed, but externally he growled, stood up and stalked out of the room.  Even though that girl was leery of touching him after Setsu’s scolding, he didn’t know if it would last now that his “sister” had been “sent back home”.

So Murasame had a part in “The Lotus in the Mire.”  For some reason it left a bad taste in his mouth.

***

***Tokyo***

“Immediately after making our decision, we’re going to go into read-throughs.  So if your schedules are tight without any room to maneuver, I suggest that you leave and not partake in the audition process.”

The director sat down and watched as a few girls left.  Kyoko glanced around.  There were still quite a few vying for the role, however.  She closed her eyes.  She was going to get this part and was going to perform with Kanae.  She understood Momiji and her jealous heart that she had to hide better than anyone.

She looked to her right when she opened her eyes.  The person that had been sitting between her and Morizumi Kimiko had been one of the actresses to leave.  The actress looked different from the top photo on her blog today, though it might have to do with the fact that she was in more comfortable attire, like most of the participants.  They were expected to demonstrate some of their physical ability.  Kimiko’s dark blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and she was dressed all in black, almost like a ninja.

Kyoko frowned.  She should have maybe put more thought into what she was wearing as well, but instead had gone with slightly better looking workout clothes than the ones typical of what she’d wear to the dojo when she was working with Uesugi-san.

“Kyoko-san!”

Kyoko jumped up at her name and some of the girls tittered.  “Yes?”

“I’ve heard that you’ve been training for the last couple of weeks with Uesugi-sensei, is that true?”

She nodded.  “I have.”  

The panel who they were performing for whispered among themselves.  One of the producers looked over at her.  “All right.  Can we see what you’ve been working on?”

The clubs were gone and instead she grabbed the two weighted short prop swords that Uesugi-san had given her a couple days ago.  She stepped toward the large area they’d set aside and bowed to the panel.  “I can only do this at half to two-third speed at this time, so please forgive me.”

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and started the routine that had been beat into her for the last five days.  Almost literally.  She’d gotten so many bruises over the last couple of weeks.  When she finished, she bowed to the panel again.  

They were looking over her one sheet.  Yashiro had made her redo it.  He’d called the photographer that usually did Ren’s headshots and they’d made an appointment last week.  It was strange to her how seriously Yashiro was actually taking managing her since he could only do it for a couple of weeks, but she had really learned a lot.  In a few days, though, Tsuruga-san would be back and she’d go back to how things were before she had a manager.

She could feel her face soften as she thought about Tsuruga-san coming back and straightened her spine.  When the panel asked her to start the acting portion of the test, she gave it her all.  One of the panel was reading the lines for the samurai, but she responded as if he’d been right there in front of her, demanding that she help protect Chidori.  And the pain that shot through her heart almost felt like it was too much.  That need to please the one that you’re in love with while having to do the opposite of what you selfishly want because you’d never be seen, not in that way.

“That’s good, Kyoko-san.  Thank you, you can go back to take your seat.”

Kyoko nodded from where she’d fallen onto one knee during her act and stood, bowed and returned to her seat.

She could feel Morizumi’s eyes on her, but did her best to ignore them.  She’d done what she’d set out to do.  Deliver the best Momiji she could for the audition.

***

“Are they really going to be able to make their decision in just two days?”  Kyoko was fretting as she and Yashiro headed to his car.

He nodded.  “You know that they are pressed for time.  The longer production delays the more likely they are to lose people that were already cast due to other commitments.”

Kyoko got into the back seat.  Until Yashiro was no longer acting as her manager she was forbidden from the front seat.  It was one of his rules.  She sort of hated it.  It made her feel like she was being chauffeured around, but Yashiro had said that was the point.  “I know.  It just seems like it’ll start so fast.  They’ll make the decision and then we’ll start with a read through a day or two later.”

“It is a very fast start.  But for now we have other things to focus on.”

She took a deep breath.  “The interview with  _ Kiss Kiss _ .”  She had never thought about doing interviews with magazines that didn’t approach her and no magazine ever had, so she had just never wondered how those sorts of things came about. But Yashiro had immediately set into doing press work with her.  He apparently knew one of the staff journalists for  _ Kiss Kiss _ , a popular teen magazine, from a couple of years ago when Tsuruga-san would do interviews with them.  He’d called and asked if they had any interest in interviewing the actress who had played Mio and was now playing Natsu in  _ Box “R” _ . To Kyoko’s, but apparently not Yashiro’s, surprise, they had.

“Exactly.”

“I still don’t know what happens in these things.  They’re just going to ask me questions?”

Yashiro nodded from where he was driving.  “Well, yes.  Some will be silly questions like that desert island question they asked Ren in that magazine you saw, but some might be about what you find interesting about the characters or why you like acting.  They’ll probably also ask you things like your favourite snack food or dessert.”  He paused.  “I’ve asked that they not really ask you any questions about your favourite fashion designers and such, is that fine?”

Kyoko was surprised.  “You can do that?  Ask them not to ask things?”

“I can request it of them, but depending on the journalist, they might not listen and ask anyway.  I just mentioned that you haven’t really had much time to look at the latest fashion trends because of how busy your work schedule has been.”

“Isn’t that a lie?”  Kyoko was surprised.

“Yes, it is, but this industry is very much about image.  We’ve had that conversation as well, yes?”

She nodded and leaned back into the seat.  They had indeed.  Yashiro had been teaching her a lot of things about how to actually make it in show business that she’d never thought to ask.  “Managers are amazing.”

Yashiro chuckled.  “Well, you’re lucky.  I am a SUPER manager.  I told you that too.”

“I already knew that before you even told me.”  She laughed.

“Back to the topic of your interview.  They are also going to be taking some photos of you for the spread, so we’re going to stop and pull an outfit or two from the clothing department.  I was thinking that maybe you should go with something halfway between Mio’s more ladylike appearance and Natsu’s more chic one?”

“I don’t even know what that would look like.”

She saw him smile in the rearview mirror.  “Well, we’ll see what we can find, all right?”

***

Yashiro sat off to the side and watched as the photographer gave Kyoko some direction for the photoshoot.  They’d selected two outfits from the clothing department and they’d decided to have photos taken in both.  She was currently wearing the white lace dress with the long semi-sheer sleeves.  It was a very innocent and fresh look.  Especially when paired with the side swept hair that was typical of Kyoko’s Natsu character.  Yashiro had jotted down the designer information for all the articles, down to the shoes, and handed it over to the journalist.

“She’s really sweet.”

He nodded.  “She is.  And still very very new to the industry, so I appreciate you taking the time for this.”

“An interview with the actress who played Mio and Natsu, you act like I’m doing you this huge favor when really, you’re doing us one.  I couldn’t even recall what agency she worked for.  So how long are you going to be managing her?  I assume Tsuruga-san will be returning soon.”

“Just a few days more.  Ren will be back around the second of May and then I won’t have time for my pet project anymore.”  He frowned.

The journalist chuckled.  “Always have to be doing something.  Though I don’t think you’ve been this active as a manager in a year and then some.  Ren’s career sort of manages itself now, doesn’t it?”

Yashiro nodded.  “In a lot of ways, yes, though there is still plenty to do.  I just am not actively helping to build his career as much since…”

“He’s number one.  Yeah, I’m sure everyone comes to you now instead of you having to go to them.  And since he’s mellow, you don’t even have any damage control to do.”

“Technically, that’s a manager’s dream come true.”

Kyoko came over to where they were and gave a quick bow.  “The photographer says that he is done.”

The journalist smiled at her.  “Why don’t you have a seat and we’ll talk some more.”

She sat down on the edge of her chair and folded her hands in her lap.  Yashiro gave her a look.  It was the “please relax just a little look” that he’d been giving her since he took on the task of her manager.  He watched as Kyoko took a deep breath and exhaled, letting her body just slightly get away from that very stiff posture.

“So, Kyoko-san, do you have any hobbies?  Our readers always like to know what the current celebrities do in their spare time.”

She paused.  “Well, I don’t have much spare time.  If I’m not doing acting work or work for the Love Me department here at LME or attending high school, then I’m probably helping the couple I board with.  They own a little traditional Japanese restaurant.”

“So, you’ve followed the age-old tradition of trying to break into acting while working as a waitress?”

She tilted her head to the side.  “I suppose.  I really don’t mind the work though.  Most of our customers are regulars, so I know them all and they’re really sweet.”

“What about music?  Do you have a favourite group that you’re currently listening to?”

Yashiro wondered what she was going to say.  As far as he knew she didn’t really listen to music.  Anymore.

“Bridge Rock!  I actually know the band fairly well and they gave me their latest album that is releasing soon.  It’s really fun and catchy!”

Very good.  She was even promoting other LME talent.

“They have a variety show as well, don’t they?”

She nodded.  “ _ Kimagure Rock _ .  It’s one of my favourites.”

“Never miss an episode?”

“Not if I can help it.”  She laughed and the journalist laughed with her.

“What about cosmetics?”

Kyoko gave a happy little sigh.  “I love shopping for cosmetics, but I can’t spend a lot of money on them, unfortunately.”

“So what is your favourite budget brand?  A lot of our readers also can’t go out and buy every hot product.”

“Probably Daiso, most of my day to day makeup is from there. But I like Canmake as well.”

“And your dream cosmetic purchases?”

Kyoko’s eyes went wide, straight to her fairytale happy place.  “Royal Snow, of course.”  She laughed a little.  “Though the swan always reminds me of the ballet, and I think of it more as Odette.”

“That’s a romantic way of looking at things.  Do you make time for romance in your life?”

Yashiro cringed.   _ Please don’t let her go into a dark place _ .  But he was surprised.  She blushed.  “Not really.”

“Really?  There isn’t anyone?”  The journalist pressed.

She shook her head and smiled sadly.  “I really don’t have the time for romance.”

She was hiding something.  Was there someone that she liked?  It had to be Ren.  It  _ had _ to be.  But what if it wasn’t?  That wouldn’t be good.  How could he get her to crack?

The journalist smiled.  “So, last question.  As a new actress, who do you look up to and go to for advice?”

Her answer was instantaneous.  “Tsuruga-san.  There isn’t a better actor that I know, and I’m tremendously lucky that he can find the time to help me whenever I need it.”

He looked over at Yashiro for confirmation, and he nodded.  “Ren has taken an interest in mentoring Kyoko-san.”

“That’s really impressive.  What’s it like being mentored by Japan’s number one actor, Kyoko-san?”

She bit her lip.  “It can be intimidating.  He’s so very good.  There are times that I watch him act and I’m just amazed at the depth he puts into every aspect of a role.  But other times he teases me mercilessly.  He can really be quite childish at times.”

Yashiro snorted, he couldn’t help himself.  

The journalist looked over at him again.  “I can write that down, right?  I won’t have to deal with your wrath if it’s printed that he can be childish?”

“If the man didn’t want to be accused of acting childish on occasion, he probably shouldn’t act that way.”

Kyoko nodded.  “I agree.”

The journalist nodded and wrote down some more notes before standing and bowing to them.  “We actually have some pages to fill, so this will come out in the next issue.”

Yashiro was surprised.  “That goes to print in a few days, doesn’t it?”

The man nodded.  “It does.  But I have a lot to work with between our earlier conversation and now.  I trust that I’ll be able to write a good piece in the allotted time.”

Kyoko stood and bowed.  “Thank you for taking care of me.”

***

Miss Woods ran her fingers through his hair.  “Somehow we made it through this trial with this treasure intact.”

Ren smiled.  “It’s because of your talent as a beautician.  I’m lucky that you were willing to dedicate so much of your time to the task of keeping me from going bald.”

“Well, if it’s for Ren-chan and at my Darling’s request, I couldn’t refuse.”  Her voice got a little harder.  “Just wait a while before you need to strip the dye again, if at all possible.”

“I don’t have any jobs booked that will require me to dye my hair for the foreseeable future.”

“Good.  As much as I hate to cover this, I’ll start the dye job now.  When you’re done, I’ve been told you’re to take a taxi to this address where you’ll meet up with Yashiro-san.”  She pressed a paper into his hands and he looked down at it.  It was a location that was commonly used for combat training and filming historical pieces.

“Any idea why?”

“No.  That’s just what Darling told me.”

Ren leaned back in the styling chair and let Miss Woods work her magic.  He closed his eyes as the unfortunately familiar scent of the chemicals stung his nose.  It was unpleasant, but something that he had to do.  He wasn’t ready to tell the world that he was really Hizuri Kuon.  He was only vaguely ready to tell Kyoko, and even then he was hesitant.  So he decided to put it off for a while.

He did wonder what had happened with the Momiji casting.  He knew someone had been cast just by listening to what Murasame had been telling other actors on the set.   He should maybe send Kyoko a message asking, but if she didn’t get it than reading his message may depress her.  He mentally shook his head.  Better to ask when he saw her next so if she was sad he could try and cheer her up.  Yashiro would no doubt arrange for them to run into each other fairly quickly since he was back in Japan.

He smiled.  His manager may be a deplorable busybody at times, but in this case he’d forgive him.

When Ren alighted from the cab, he didn’t need to look very far to find Yashiro.  He was standing a bit away and pointed in the direction that he wanted Ren to go before heading down that way himself.

Had he arranged an earlier job for him?  Another CM, maybe?  Ren headed in that direction and stopped short as he rounded the corner.  There was training underway for a fight scene.  Kotonami-san was crossing wooden swords with an instructor.  But it was the group that was off to the side that attracted his attention more so.  Yashiro and Kyoko were greeting Murasame.

“He just arrived today after finishing filming in Guam on the movie  _ Tragic Marker _ .”  The director was saying.

Yashiro nodded.  “I have heard about it.  There is quite a bit of buzz building.  Congratulations, Murasame-san.”

Kyoko rose from her bow.  “I look forward to working with you.”  She tilted her head to the side and smiled.  “It’s nice to finally meet the actor that will be playing the role of the samurai.

Ren had tried not to dwell on what part Murasame would be playing because he really didn’t want to think of him as playing the samurai.  It was the role that Momiji was in love with.  And since it seemed that Kyoko had been cast as Momiji… His heart clenched a bit.  It was a stupid reaction to have.  Of course she’d play roles where she was in love with other characters and he wouldn’t be acting in them.

He was being immature and possessive.

“I look forward to working with you as well.  From what I saw when I arrived, your Momiji will be able to deliver some really dynamic fighting scenes.  It’s exciting.  I was sure that they’d be relying solely on a stuntwoman.”

“Well, I still can’t do much in the way of the acrobatics involved in some of the fights, so I will have to rely on a stuntwoman for quite a lot.”  Kyoko brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and Ren wished that she wouldn’t do that in front of men that weren’t him.  Her hair was styled sleeker than usual, but not in the way that she styled Natsu, it made her seem a little more mature.  He wondered what had brought on the change.  He wasn’t sure that he liked it.

He was about to head over to them with the excuse of greeting his manager when his name was shouted and Morizumi Kimiko ran up to him.

He stilled.

The last time he’d seen her was  _ that _ time. Why now?  He smiled and turned toward her, well aware that most of the action in the courtyard had stopped and people were staring.

“You came!  I knew that you’d be here.  I kept telling my uncle that he was mistaken about that man managing that girl, that you’d never let your manager work with another talent, especially a half-baked one, but he insisted.  And here you are, proving me right!”  She leaned close and put her fingers on his arm.

“Kimiko-chan, it has been a while.  Are you acting in ‘The Lotus in the Mire’ as well?”

She nodded.  “I am.  In a secondary role this time.”  Her voice dropped to a loud whisper that was really only a whisper in name only.  “I was supposed to have a larger part, but I decided at the last minute that I’d rather be free to take on a second role elsewhere, so I refused and let them cast some newbie instead.”

She was obviously lying, but why, he had no idea.  Most of what she’d said since she ran up to him made very little sense.  So he just smiled and said that it was awfully nice of her.  He looked up.  Yashiro was glaring at him, Kyoko looked like he had just smashed some of her dreams and, he turned his head to the side, Kotonami-san looked rather angry.

What mire had he just stepped in?  He’d only said two sentences.

***

It was awfully nice of her?   _ Awfully nice of her? _  What was going through Ren’s head that those were the words that would come out of his mouth?  Yashiro schooled the glare off his face and took Kyoko’s elbow, turning her away and back to their conversation with Murasame.

“Looks like even Tsuruga Ren can step in it now and then.  I heard that your audition for Momiji was incredibly powerful, Kyoko-san.  Do not let her words get to you.  The actor’s soul is a fragile thing.  None of us like admitting when someone is better.”

Kyoko smiled at Murasame and thanked him.  She obviously respected the actor, but then she knew him even if he didn’t know her.  Something about his acting must have spoken to Kyoko on the  _ TraMa _ set.

“If you’ll excuse us, Murasame-san, but Kyoko-san needs to get to her next job.”

“Of course.”

They bowed and turned away.

“Kotonami-san is taking a break. Let me go and say my goodbyes?”

Yashiro gave her a nod and watched as she hurried over to Kotonami-san and started talking.  He didn’t turn towards Ren, but knew the moment he approached.

“How bad of a mistake did I make?”

“Morizumi-chan auditioned for the part of Momiji and her uncle is the producer.”

He heard Ren’s measured inhale and exhale.  “So it should have been a lock, but Mogami-san won it in the end?”

Yashiro nodded.  “Kyoko-san trained very hard for this role even before the audition.  If the production team wasn’t biased, she had a very good chance.  I heard that even without the training she probably would have been offered the role anyway since the acting portion was incredibly well done.”

“Kyoko-san?”

“None of the rest surprises you, just my term of address?”

“It’s Mogami-san.  I’ve never known her to put less than everything into developing a role once she likes it and she went into Momiji, if not liking it at least really wanting it.”

Kyoko ran up to them.  “I’m ready, Yashiro-san.”  She glanced at Ren, the corners of her lips turned down in a slight frown.  “I hope your trip was a good one, Tsuruga-san.”

Ren sighed.  “It was.  Mogami-san--”

“Let’s go.  Kyoko-san will be late if we don’t.”  Yashiro interrupted.  “Save it for the car ride to our next destination.”

***

Ren had no idea where they were going, so he just followed next to Kyoko.  She didn’t say anything to him and he found himself wanting to pick her up in a hug and apologize like Cain had done with Setsu when she had been mad at him.

He was going to miss the more tactile aspects of that character’s relationship with Setsu.

She stopped in front of a silver hatchback and waited.  Ren knit his brows.  “Um, what is going on?”

Yashiro took a set of keys out of his pocket and remotely unlocked the doors with a beep.  “Get in, get in.”

Kyoko went around to the other side and slid into the backseat and Ren opened the door on the his side and got in as well.  He was still confused; moreso when Yashiro got behind the wheel.

“Surprise!”  Ren could see Yashiro’s grin in the rearview mirror.  “I am now the perfect manager.”

“You got your license?”

The man nodded.  “You don’t have to drive us to all the appointments during the day now.  I will be taking over those tasks.”

Ren smiled and looked out of the corner of his eye at Kyoko, she was smiling too.

“But first, I have one last duty to perform today.  Shall we?”

Kyoko nodded.  And Yashiro started driving.

“Mogami-san?”

She turned to look at him.  “Yes?”

“I am sorry for what I said at the training grounds.  I wasn’t really following anything she said, and just responded with what I thought would be the polite response.  Kimiko-chan is an actress I worked with in the past.”

She frowned again.  It wasn’t like her to frown at an apology.  “I am aware that you worked with her on  _ Purple Down I  _ and _ II _ .  Most, if not all, of the cast of ‘The Lotus in the Mire’ are aware of it as she wouldn’t stop talking about it.”  Kyoko closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.  When she opened them again, she was smiling.  “I know you didn’t mean anything by your comments, Tsuruga-san.  Apology accepted.”

She sounded like the happy girl he always knew and her smile even reached her eyes, but he had a bad feeling pooling in the pit of his stomach that something just wasn’t right.  But he didn’t have time to dwell on it, since within a few minutes they were pulling into the lot at TBM and they all got out.

He and Yashiro accompanied Kyoko inside.

“It’s two minutes until five.”  Yashiro turned and faced Kyoko and bowed deeply.  “It has been an absolute pleasure to work as your manager the last two weeks, Kyoko-san.  I’m a little sad that it has to end.”

She bowed in return.  “I am the one who is thankful.  You’ve taught me so much in the last two weeks, I feel that I have a better understanding on how to make myself a true actress in this industry.”  She raised her head.  “Does this mean I don’t have to ride in the back anymore?”

Yashiro chuckled.  “Yes, you don’t have to ride in the back.” Ren saw him give a quick look in his direction. “Unless you want to.”

She smiled.  “I have to go or I’ll be late!”  She turned to Ren.  “Next time I hope we have more of a chance to talk.”  She turned and raced off, but before she completely vanished, the two men saw the idol group Bridge Rock round the corner and the leader jogged over to meet her.  

“Kyoko-chan!  You’ll never guess what happened.   _ Kiss Kiss _ contacted us and wants us to be their cover story next month.  Apparently an actress recommended us to a journalist that was interviewing her and the music editor gave our advance copy a listen.  It’ll coincide with the release of the album.”

She was all smiles as the group disappeared down the hall.

“I wonder if she realises it was her,” Yashiro mumbled.  

“You’ve been working as Mogami-san’s manager while I was gone?”  Ren was more surprised by this news than the fact that Yashiro had gotten a license, to be honest.

Yashiro nodded.  “Chief Sawara mentioned that she was having some trouble making work decisions because she didn’t really understand much about the industry beyond her desire to act.  He was going to have someone sit with her and try to work through it, but… well, she’s ours, isn’t she?”  Yashiro gave him a look.  “Since I had the time and she didn’t have a manager and Chief Sawara’s idea was only a stopgap measure, I offered my services and used the time working with her to figure out the best driving routes and determine driving times as well as to get more practice in for driving in the city.  So really, we did each other a favor.”

“Did she really learn a lot?”  There was a warmth that spread through his chest.  He knew that Yashiro would only do what would be best for Kyoko and he appreciated that fact.

“I think so.  We had a lot of conversations about what it means to be a talent in the industry and about how she should market and present herself.  Other than going for the Curura CM, she’s been too passive. But since the offers have come to her, she never thought of seeking out other means of bringing attention to herself.”

Ren nodded.  She was only ever working on her roles.  With the exception of whatever she did here at TBM.  He stopped.  He really didn’t know why she would always come to TBM.  He looked over at Yashiro.  “What does she do here?”

Yashiro shook his head.  “All she would tell me is that it was a longstanding Love Me assignment.”  His voice dropped.  “I think she finds it a bit embarrassing.  It’s probably backstage work of some sort.”  He paused.  “You know, maybe that’s why she knows Bridge Rock.  Maybe she works backstage for  _ Kimagure Rock. _ ” 

***

“I thought I’d seen the last of that magazine over a year ago.”

Yashiro looked up from the profile he was looking at.  “Yes, I have turned down every offer from  _ Kiss Kiss _ for interview since you changed your demographic to twenty-somethings, but this isn’t about you.”  He laid the magazine open flat on his desk.  “I got an advance copy and wanted to look at it before handing it over to Kyoko-chan.  What do you think?”

Kyoko was smiling up from the page in a pretty, but simple white lace dress.  Her hands were hooked behind her back and she looked like she was about to laugh.  It was a good shot and a sharp contrast to the pictures of an expressionless Natsu and regal-looking Mio that were on the facing page.

“You arranged for her to be interviewed by  _ Kiss Kiss _ ?”

Yashiro nodded.  “I wasn’t going to do my job as manager half-heartedly.  I arranged for another interview with a different magazine, but that one isn’t for another week or so, so I won’t be there for it.  I might see if I can find the time to go to the clothing department with her at some point before.”

Ren reached for the magazine.  “Can I?”

Yashiro nodded.  He smirked as Ren read it.

“You let her call me childish?”

Yashiro played at being thoughtful.  “Well I thought about correcting her and telling the journalist that you were just  _ flirting _ , but I thought just letting it slide would be better for all involved.  Or is there yet another reason that you tease her?”

Ren sighed.  “I’m not rising to your bait.”

“I didn’t expect you to.”  Yashiro flipped through his schedule.  “We have a few minutes before we have to leave and Kyoko-chan is supposed to be in the Love Me department before heading over to the training grounds.  Can we stop by on our way out so I can give her this?”

Ren nodded.  “You still have her schedule written down even though you’re not managing her?”

“You are only asking this now?  I’ve been keeping track of her schedule for much longer than just the past few weeks.  Why else would I know where Kyoko-chan is most of the time?  You think that we just randomly run into her?”

“I did, yes.”  Ren’s eyes widened.

“Not even you have that much luck.”  Yashiro smiled.  “Though I’ll admit, I’m a bit more hesitant now.”

“Why?  Feeling like you need to protect her from me?”

“A little actually.”  Yashiro sighed.  “She’s working with Morizumi-chan.”

“Ah.”  One word spoke volumes.  There was history there that neither Ren nor Yashiro wanted to come out.  

“Not ‘ah’, more like ‘I’m an idiot who should have listened to my manager two years ago when he said to think before doing.’”

Ren looked out the corner of his eye at Yashiro.  “Did something happen?”

“Sort of.”  He stopped.  “But we’re already here, so I’ll have to explain later.”

Yashiro opened the door to the Love Me department.  Kyoko was sipping tea out of a very pretty teacup while staring at a jewelry box and petting the horse of a candle holder.  She jumped up when she saw them, her face going red.  “Wh-wh-what are you doing here?”

“Bringing your fantasy fetish to work now, Mogami-san?”

She shook her head.  “No! No no.  I haven’t had a chance to bring these home, but I think I’ll leave the tea set here.”  She was still blushing.  “It’s come in handy a few times.”

“Are the others return gifts as well?”  Yashiro was bending down and inspecting the jewelry box.  “They’re lovely.”

Kyoko smiled and rushed over.  “The tea set is from director Ogata and the tea was from Kotonami-san and the jewelry box and mirror are from Bridge Rock.  They decided to go in on something together, though Yuusei-kun and Shinichi-kun said that they let Hikaru-kun pick it out.”

Ren stared wide-eyed.  This was not the answer he’d been expecting.  “And the candle thing?”

“That was from Yashiro-san!”

Yashiro was grinning.  “I’m glad that you still like it, Kyoko-chan, but this isn’t why we’re here.  I got an advance copy of _ Kiss Kiss. _ ”  He held out the magazine.  “The profile they did looks really good.”

Kyoko took the magazine and opened it hesitantly.  “Really?”  She flipped through until she found the page.  “I thought for sure that they’d use the jeans look, but they decided on using the dress.”  Her eyes scanned over it.  “Is it good?  I can’t tell if these things are good or not or if I sound stupid.”

Ren smiled.  “It’s good.  I took the liberty of reading it myself.  Though I take offense at being called childish.”

She turned her face up to look at him.  “I remember someone being scolded about eating their vegetables in Guam.”

He remembered things about Guam as well, but it wasn’t as if he could tell her that he remembered kissing her because as far as she knew, he wasn’t the one who had.  “I do not concede your point.  I ate every meal after.  I have more proof if you need it.”

She looked startled.  “You kept taking videos?”

He nodded.  Just in case she needed cheering up again.

As they walked to the car a few minutes later, Yashiro looked over at him.  “Don’t you wish you’d gotten her a White Day gift after all?”

He hung his head and got into the back of Yashiro’s car.  He had.  But he wasn’t going to admit it.

***

They were all gathered in a small circle on the edge of the training grounds.  The production staff had come over with bentos and passed them around.  Kanae opened hers and sighed.  “It’s not the worst.”

“Is there something fried?  I’m happiest when they put in something fried.”  Murasame opened his as well.  “No.  I’m missing my Murasame core.  I’ll just have to make sure I get it for dinner.”

Kyoko smiled.  “Fried is not a food group.”

Murasame waved a chopstick at her.  “But it’s delicious.”  He shoveled some rice into his mouth.  “So tomorrow we’ll start shooting the scenes that take place at Chidori’s residence, right?  So that girl is coming back?”

“Which girl?”  Kanae looked around to see if any of the production staff was hovering, just in case Murasame was talking about who she thought he was talking about.

“The pretty, but rude one.”

Kyoko looked around as well.  “I think he’s talking about Morizumi-san.”

“Oh, her.”  Kanae wasn’t sure if that girl actually had done something violent to the previous Momiji since she didn’t seem the type, but she didn’t like her anyway.  She came across as another Erika type.  Always using her family connections to get the things that she wanted.

“Yeah, that’s the one.  The one that said she stepped down from Momiji.  She doesn’t really inspire camaraderie.”

“Camaraderie?”

Murasame nodded.  “The spirit of working together to make something great.  There was an actor on the film I just did… well he was so much worse, but at least he had a ridiculous amount of talent to back up being an ass.”

Kyoko tilted her head to the side.  “So it was all right because he was talented?”

“Not at all! But, well, I have a level of respect for someone who is  **_that_ ** good an actor.  I mean he really was just an insanely talented actor.  And I never have to see him again, so there’s a plus.  But if I do, I will have become an even better actor than he is!  He’ll have to respect me.”

Kyoko laughed and Kanae gave her a side eye.  She was behaving almost as if she knew Murasame, but they’d all met him at the same time.  Strange.  That or she was flirting, but that was even less like Kyoko.

“I have an actor like that who I look up to as well.”

“Tsuruga-san?  I was surprised to see him on set.  You guys share a manager?”

Kyoko waved her hands to say no.  “Not at all, Yashiro-san, his manager, offered to act as my manager during the audition process since I don’t have one and since Tsuruga-san was out of the country working.”

“I’m surprised that his manager didn’t go with him.”

Kanae joined in.  “That’s right.  Why didn’t Yashiro-san go with him?”

Kyoko paused.  “I don’t really know, but as long as Tsuruga-san makes sure to eat, I think he didn’t really need Yashiro-san with him.  From my understanding, he was only working on the one thing, so there really wasn’t even the need for Yashiro-san to manage his schedule while he was working.”

“That is also a man who takes his acting seriously.  I’d like to see him work one day.”  Murasame paused and looked at Kyoko.  “You’ve worked with him.  Is he as amazing as they say?”

She frowned.  “Do you mean how he makes his co-stars fall in love with him?”

He shook his head.  “Nah, I don’t care about that.  Like the actual acting.  I don’t care what happens because he’s a pretty boy.”

Kyoko’s frown turned into a wide smile.  “Very much so.  Every time I watch him, I think that I learn something new about acting.  I feel like the characters I develop are just so shallow next to his.  There’s so much depth.”

***

“You aren’t actually going to go, are you?”

Kyoko was removing Momiji’s makeup in their shared dressing room and looked past her face in the mirror toward Kanae.  “Why shouldn’t I?”

“It’s a date.”

“It’s not.”  She paused.  “Well it is, but it isn’t.”  She sighed.  “It’s about experience, right?  The more I experience in life, the better I can act.  I may have experienced heartbreak, but I have never experienced a date.  What if I have to act one out in the future?  It’s not like I’d know what to do.”

Kanae sighed and sat down next to her.  “Shouldn’t you go on a date with someone that you actually like?”

“I like Murasame-kun just fine.  He’s sort of funny.  A little intense though, and besides I told him it wasn’t a real date anyway.”

She blinked.  “You did?”

“Yes.  I told him that I didn’t have time for dating and that I swore to never love again, but that I should probably go on one eventually for acting purposes.  And then he said that he’d still be happy to take me out and that we can just talk about acting the whole time.”

“He actually agreed to go on a date as acting practice?”

Kyoko nodded.  “So since there’s no way it can be misunderstood, shouldn’t I?”  She looked at Kanae.  “Is it really so different from what you did when you took those jobs acting as girlfriends and daughters and other people?  It’s all acting practice.  Life is about collecting experiences, and acting is about taking those experiences and replicating them.”

She sighed.  Kyoko had a point.  Though if Tsuruga-san found out, she couldn’t imagine it going well for Kyoko.  He was jealous enough already of people like Sho.  Did Kyoko really want to add one more person to the list?

***

Kyoko looked in the mirror and did a little twirl and struck a pose.  It was cute.  At least she thought it was cute.  She tilted her head to the side.  “Is this what a girl on a date would wear?”  She turned to the table in her room and grabbed the copy of  _ Kiss Kiss _ that Yashiro had given her.  She wasn’t looking for her profile, but for an article she’d seen about perfect date clothes.

It would work.  She dropped the magazine down, grabbed her bag and rushed down the stairs.  She needed to catch a bus or she was going to be late meeting Murasame-kun.

“I’m leaving!”

_ So if I was actually on a date with a guy I liked… _ An image of Tsuruga-san swam into focus and she mentally stomped it out of existence.  She didn’t want to think about it.  It  **_hurt_ ** to think about him and dating and if she did, she’d probably think about what  _ that girl _ had said to her.  And that was worse than just thinking about the fact that Tsuruga-san was in love with someone else.  That he might have actually loved someone like Morizumi-san was just…

Well it was unbelievable, but… They could have dated, she supposed.  Love wasn’t necessary for dating.  And Tsuruga-san had experience.  A lot of experience.  In more than just dating.  She narrowed her eyes, remembering what had happened on the bed.  The act that had led to all the locks snapping off that box.

Experience.

Growing this emotion inside of her was worse than she had thought.  She even thought of just trying to lock the box again, but it was no use.  It was stubbornly staying open.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and cast the negative love thoughts aside.  She was a girl on her first date with a guy she liked.  She was happy.  H-A-P-P-Y.  By the time she got off the bus, she even felt a little happy.  She could imagine what a girl might feel going out for the very first time.

“Kyoko-chan!”

She turned toward the sound of her name and smiled and waved.  Murasame-kun was already waiting for her.  She clutched her bag tighter in her hand and rushed over.

***

Ren looked over at the familiar voice calling the familiar name.  Kyoko was walking with Murasame and the two were talking excitedly about something.  Murasame stopped and motioned toward a cafe with outdoor seating.  They sat down.  He leaned forward and said something that made Kyoko blush before pulling out his phone and motioning her to move her chair closer so they could take a photo.

Ren’s fists unconsciously clenched.

“All right.  I found the thing I was looking for… what are you looking at?”  Yashiro came to stand beside him and followed his line of sight.  “Wait.  That’s Kyoko-chan and… Murasame, from  _ Tragic Marker _ ?”

“As well as ‘The Lotus in the Mire.’  And he just put his arm around Mogami-san’s shoulder for a picture.  They’re at a cafe.  Yashiro, why is Ky-- Mogami-san on a  **_date_ ** with Murasame?”

“It might not be a date.”  Even his manager didn’t sound like he believed the words he just uttered.

Ren sighed.  “I’ve been on dates.  That’s a date.”  Kyoko had on a short flowery dress with floaty little sleeves.  It wasn’t the sort of thing he’d ever seen her wear before and she was hanging on every word that came out of Murasame’s mouth and responding just as animatedly.

Didn’t he realise that she was just seventeen?  Murasame was his age.

And why would Kyoko even agree to go on a date anyway?  She was Love Me member number one!

“Because he asked and she’s decided to open herself up to more life experiences in order to improve her acting?”

Ren turned to look at Yashiro.  “What?”

“Did you not mean to say that out loud? Because you did.”  He hung his head.  “This is my fault.  She was telling me something that the president and Hizuri-san had both told her.  About using life experience to give her acting extra depth.  So I asked her what she’d have the most problems with and she said normal things, like going on dates and the like.”  He looked at Ren.  “I told her that she should probably try to go on a date just to improve her acting, but I was going to trick her into going on a date with  _ you _ !  I didn’t think she’d make plans on her own.  She’s Love Me member number one!” 

Ren sighed and turned away.  He couldn’t watch.  Didn’t want to watch.  “Let’s go.”

“Re-en.”

He shook his head.  “She either likes him and is on a date with him because of that, or she’s just using him for acting practice.  Neither makes me happy and I’d rather not find out which it is.  I’d just be disappointed.”

“Didn’t you use Kyoko-chan for acting practice?”

Ren paused in walking away for a second and sighed.  He had.  “I know.  I’m a hypocrite.”

***

“Do you want to go out again?  Do something else typical, like the park or the botanical gardens?”

Kyoko looked up at Murasame.  She’d had fun on their “date”.  He was good company and they really had a lot in common in their approaches to acting.  It wasn’t something that either of them ever thought about doing until they tried it, and then they both used it to become a new person.

He was a little further along in his reinvention of Murasame Taira than she was in reinventing Mogami Kyoko though.

“I don’t know.  I don’t have any time soon, but I’ll let you know?”

Murasame smiled and gave her a quick nod.  “All right.  I had fun though.”

“I did as well.”  She watched him walk over to the other side of the set to where Kanae was speaking with the director.

“I see you took my advice to move on from Tsuruga-san seriously, Kyoko-chan.”  Morizumi Kimiko had come over and was standing behind her.  “Though I didn’t think that you’d run right to the next leading man that would cross your path.”

“I didn’t.”  Kyoko turned and gave into her inner demons, lettinh Natsu’s spirit take a bit of control.  The emotionless Natsu could deal with this girl’s attacks better than Kyoko.  After all, Natsu didn’t love Tsuruga-san, but Kyoko did.  “We just wanted to talk a bit about acting methods.”

“Really?”  The smile that Kimiko gave her was rather cynical.  “I’m sure that’s all he took it for, a conversation about acting.  Still, it’s more than you’d get out of Tsuruga-san, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Well, like I said.  Don’t take the fact that his manager likes you as any indication that he does.  I didn’t have a single interaction with his manager, but I did have a night with the man himself.  Have you already had yours?  Because that’s all you’ll ever get out of him.  One night only.”

Kyoko (and Natsu) didn’t say anything.

“It’s definitely worth it if you get a chance, though.  I say take him up on it.”  Kimiko smiled, and then flounced away.

Kyoko sagged a little once the other girl was further away from her and let Natsu’s spirit leave.  Her heart was breaking in a new way.  Her jealous heart was twisting and turning itself into a giant knot.  Why should she be jealous of what happened before she’d ever met the man?  But she was.

She’d known, when she’d laid on top of his chest as he told her how to properly leave a kiss mark on a man, that he’d had experience with women.  Multiple women.  That he was no stranger to the intimate acts that happened between members of the opposite sex.

It had bothered her then.

It bothered her now.

And she wasn’t completely sure why.  Part of it was certainly jealousy.  But the rest… Was she upset that he’d had those encounters at all, or that she’d never have an encounter? With him?  Or because now she could put a face to one of those encounters.  A very pretty face with round eyes and a small nose, a slender neck and build, and larger breasts than she had, certainly, as well as dressed fashionably and beautiful, with her hair flowing around her shoulders and top of the line cosmetics to bring out her best features… No wonder Tsuruga-san would show an interest.

When it came time to act her scene, she let Momiji and her jealous heart engulf her completely.  It wasn’t hard, because Momiji was the character who was most like her.  In a way, Momiji wasn’t a character at all, it was just Kyoko giving in to the jealousy that she knew so well.

“Cut!”

Kyoko fell forward onto her knees, shaking.

“Are you all right?”  The voice was Kanae’s.

“Get away from me.”  She looked up, anger and resentment on her face, and watched as Kanae took a step back.

She threw Momiji out of her.  No.  She wouldn’t hurt her friend!

“Moko-san!  I’m--”

“It’s all right.”  Kanae knelt down next to her.  “I just didn’t realise you were still in character.  I forgot that sometimes it takes a minute for you to snap out of it.”

Kyoko looked back at the ground and took a deep breath.  “What scene are we doing next?”

“Scene 23.  I don’t think you’re in it.”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I’m not.”  She stood up and took another deep breath.  “I should get some water.  Do you want me to get you some as well?”

Kanae nodded. “Please.  I have a monologue in this scene and my throat will need it after.  Thanks.”

Kyoko smiled the brightest smile she could and headed down the hall to the vending machine.  She smiled as she passed Murasame, slightly curious about the look he was giving her, but not enough to actually ask about it.  She needed the time to try and find her center again.

***

“We’re just waiting for the actress to finish at her other job and then we can start the readthrough.”

Ren leaned back in his seat.  This drama didn’t excite him the way his past couple of roles had.  He hoped that something more challenging would come up again.  Apparently, someone was talking to Yashiro about him taking the role of a yakuza boss.  There was potential, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to just go with antagonists.  Maybe a troubled anti-hero again.  A little bit more like Katsuki.  A yakuza who was also the hero would have potential.

“I’m he-ere!”

He’d recognize that little sing-song voice anywhere and sighed.  Kimiko-chan had been cast in this as well?  Or was this a consolation prize when she failed to secure Momiji in ‘The Lotus in the Mire’?

She bounced over to the empty seat next to him and sat down.  “I’m so excited that we get to work together again, Tsuruga-san.”

He smiled at her and turned his attention back to the script.

Kimiko didn’t leave right after the readthrough and watched him as he gathered his things.

“You aren’t filming on ‘The Lotus in the Mire’ tonight?”

She shook her head and smiled.  “Not at all.  I was there this morning and early afternoon.”  She leaned over toward him.  “Do you have another job after this?”

“A meeting, actually.  A director is pitching a drama for next season to me.”

“You’ll have to let me know what it is so that I can audition.”

He turned and smiled.  “Of course.”

“Encore performances are so fun, aren’t they?”

There was something about her voice that stopped him from automatically replying as he usually would, and he actually looked at her.  She was definitely offering.

And he was certainly  _ not _ interested.  “I find encores to be tiring, actually.”

She laughed a little.  “I know, but you can’t blame a girl for trying.”  She stood and leaned closer and whispered.  “Don’t worry, I told that little tagalong that you are a one night only sort of man.”

His blood ran cold.  “Little tagalong?”

“That girl who was so full of herself because she was using your manager.  As if she were special.”

Kyoko.

“What exactly did you tell her?”  He had to keep a very firm rein on his anger.

“That just because she’s gotten friendly with your manager doesn’t mean that she should expect you to find her interesting, and if you did find her interesting that, well, she’d already know it, but just in case, I told her your rules.”  She held a finger to her lips.  “One night only.  Our little secret.”

His hand tightened on the strap of his bag.

“She didn’t understand what I meant right away.  But the look on her face when she put the pieces together was so very innocent.  That isn’t your type at all.  I told her that, too.”

He narrowed his eyes.  “You broke one of the rules, Morizumi-chan.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“You didn’t keep it our secret.”

He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed toward the door.  “Do your best to stay away from me.”  He didn’t care if her family was everywhere in the industry anymore.  He didn’t need to please the Morizumi clan.  He had enough clout on his own.

There was only one thing that was bothering him as he walked out of the building and toward Yashiro’s car, where his manager was waiting.

Kyoko knew he’d slept with Kimiko.

***

The next time Ren saw Kyoko she was sitting in the cafeteria at TBM drinking coffee with the leader of Bridge Rock.  The other two members of the band were conspicuously missing.

He paused and watched as she tilted her head to the side and laughed at something that the man said.  Hikaru, was it?  He, for his part, flushed and looked at the table before looking up and giving Kyoko a wide grin.

“I’m going to get a cup of coffee to go.”

Yashiro grabbed his sleeve at the elbow.  “That’s a bad idea.  Let’s just get one from the machines.”

“Can I not have real coffee on occasion?”

Yashiro sighed and followed him.  He knew that he’d been in a bad mood since Kimiko had told him what she’d said to Kyoko, and he was mostly effective in hiding it, but he had told Yashiro.

“So did you really mean what you told the journalist when they interviewed you?  You did listen to the album?”

Kyoko smiled.  “Of course!  I like how bright your music is compared to a lot of the stuff that is popular right now from Visual Kei artists.  It’s really fun.”

Ren could hear the musician’s foot tapping the floor in a nervous staccato rhythm under the table.  “Which track did you like the best?”

Kyoko took a deep breath.  “Sunshine Girl.  The way the lyrics talk about her smile and how he just wants to catch her, but she’s elusive.  It’s sweet and has a very hopeful sort of beat, but it’s still very unrequited love.”

Hikaru nodded.  “Yeah.  It is.”

Ren grabbed his coffee and walked away with Yashiro following after.

They got into the elevator to take it up to the floor where the studio for the talk show he was going on was filmed.

“Ren?  You’re frowning.”

“Give me until the elevator gets there.  He wrote that song for her.  It was written all over his face.”

***

“You went on a date with the leader of Bridge Rock too?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I had coffee with him in the cafeteria at TBM. That isn’t a date.”

“It’s close enough.”

She nodded.  It really was close enough.  It had even felt a little more like a date than the one with Murasame.  Since Hikaru-kun was flustered, she’d gotten flustered while she was talking to him and the conversation was more natural. But then again, they’d been friends for almost a year by this point.  “It was.  I just…” She sighed.  Neither Hikaru-kun or Murasame could make her forget about Tsuruga-san.

“Just?”  Kanae sat down in the chair on the other side of the trailer and spun it around to face Kyoko.

She wanted to tell Kanae.  But the thought of saying it… just the idea of it was causing pain to well up around her heart and choke her.  She said the only word she could.  “Karaoke?”

***

They got to the karaoke place, went into the booth and shut the door. Kyoko turned on some song or other.  They weren’t going to sing, but the place was soundproof and good for telling secrets.

“Spill, now.”

She didn’t know where to start.  Just telling her that she was in love with Tsuruga-san… no, there was so much more.

“I know who the actor who played Blackjack in  _ Tragic Marker _ is.”

“Murasame-kun’s movie?”

“The president assigned me the task of… I was his temporary manager.”

“Then why doesn’t Murasame-kun recognise you?”

Kyoko bit her lip.  “I was undercover.  I played the role of his little sister.  His overly affectionate, possessive, little sister with a brother complex that could swallow Japan.”

Kanae looked at the ground and furrowed her brow.  “So what does this have to do with anything?  What am I missing?”

“It was Tsuruga-san.”

Kanae’s eyes went wide.

Kyoko dived forward and covered her mouth with her hands.  “You can’t say anything. EVER.  It’s a HUGE secret.  HUGE.  But.  Well, things happened.”

Kanae physically removed Kyoko’s hands from her mouth.  “What happened?  Did he… did he take advantage of you?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “No.  No.  It’s more…”  She took a deep breath.  “There were some problems on set.”  She shook her head again.  “I… I did a thing.  And then…”  Kyoko blushed and then frowned.  “I swore I never would again, but…”  Tears started to run down her cheeks.

“You ended up falling in love with him, didn’t you?”

Kyoko nodded.  “And the president was spying on us, and he figured it out, and he convinced me that I should try and let it grow.”

“Well, that’s because he has a weird obsession with love.”  Kanae paused and looked at her.  “Did he reject you?”

“Tsuruga-san?  No!  No.  He doesn’t know and he can  **_never_ ** know.”

“Why not?”

Kyoko sighed.  “Because I know another secret about him that I’m not supposed to know.  And then another on top of it.  And I can’t handle knowing all these secrets and I’m a horrible person because I’m going to tell you because… I don’t think I can do this, Kanae, the thing that the president wants.  It’s so _scary_.”

Kanae was really quiet and just waited.

“Tsuruga-san, he’s in love with someone, but doesn’t think he’s allowed to have that person.”

“Wait, what?  He’s in love with--”

“Some high school girl.”  Kyoko nodded.  “He doesn’t know that I know.  He can’t know that I know.”  She sighed.  “Then that Morizumi told me another thing that I wish she hadn’t.  I really didn’t want to know that.”  Her voice had gone from a little frantic to angry.  Very angry.

“What did she tell you?”

“After they filmed  _ Purple Down II _ they…”

“Dated?”

Kyoko looked at Kanae.  “I tried to reason it that way, but no.  There’s no misinterpreting what she told me.  They… He… With her… and…”

“They slept together?!”

Kyoko nodded and collapsed further into the cushions of the karaoke couch. 

“Well…”  Kanae paused.  “ _ Purple Down _ was a couple of years ago, right?  You didn’t know him yet.”

“But it makes me so jealous anyway.  And I already was jealous.  I’m just a hateful person, Kanae, because I don’t want him to have the girl he’s in love with.  I want him to always feel that he can’t have her because as long as he can’t have her, I don’t have to wish him happiness.”  She took a shuddering breath.  “And then knowing what I found out about Morizumi… it really makes me hate her.  But I’m jealous, too.  But it’s a different sort of jealousy.  And she told me that I wasn’t his type anyway, and I knew that, but to hear it… So…”

“So you started to date?”

“I thought maybe, just maybe one of them would interest me.  Would make me forget about Tsuruga-san.  Or at least make me forget to be so jealous.  But the acting experience… that was part of it too.”

Kanae sat on her side of the couch and pressed her lips together in thought, her brow furrowing a bit.  “How do you do this?”

“Do what?”

“Get into the most convoluted romantic dilemmas known to man?”

“I don’t knooooooooooow!”

***

“Kyo-ko-chan!”

Kyoko stopped at the sound of the cheery voice and turned.  “Yashiro-san!”  He motioned for her to come over.  She looked around and didn’t see Tsuruga-san, so she did.

“I want to talk to you.”

“You do?”

He nodded.  “I’ve sent Ren off to an interview in a conference room upstairs.  He’ll call me when he’s done and ready to go to his next job.  So we have a few minutes.”

Kyoko frowned.  “Is it obvious that I’ve been avoiding him?”

Yashiro put his thumb and index finger a finger’s breadth apart.  “Just a little bit.”  He opened the door to the Love Me department.  “I thought we could have tea?  If you wouldn’t mind.”

“Of course not.”  Kyoko immediately started fixing the tea.  She always relished a chance to use her tea set and the tea from Kanae.  She set a finished cup in front of Yashiro and then sat down across from him with her own.  Just the smell of the chamomile was soothing.  “What did you want to talk about?”

Yashiro only spoke when she put her teacup back down on the saucer.  “Love.”

Kyoko choked.  Now she knew why.  “Lo… lo...love?”

Yashiro nodded grimly.  “It’s a horrible thing, isn’t it?”

“A kindred soul!”

“Not really, but I can understand why you’d feel that way.”  He took a sip of his tea.  “I’ve noticed that you’ve taken my advice to go out on a date.  Though not with the person I thought you would.”

Kyoko sighed.  “Yashiro-san… I can’t.  Not with that person.”

“Hmm.  I thought for sure that you didn’t dislike him.”

“I do like him!”  She covered her mouth.  How could she save this.  “He’s… he’s…”  was it too late to say friend?  Senpai?  What would get her out of this jam!

“Ah.”  Yashiro smiled.  “You know, Kyoko, you’re an amazing actress when you’re in character, but when it’s just you, your whole thought process plays across your face.”

She frowned.  “You did that on purpose.”

He nodded and took another sip of tea.  “I did.  I am very sorry, but I needed to know.  I had my suspicions for a while, and I had hope when the interviewer asked you about romance in your life.  Your face softened, in a way I’ve only seen a couple of times.”

“Softened?”

“Yes.”  He put his teacup down.  “I’ve seen you look at Ren that way.”

She sighed.  “Does he know?  I don’t want him to know.”

“Why not?  It would make him happy.”

Kyoko looked away.  “No, it wouldn’t.  To have your kouhai, the one that swore to protect her chastity for always, tell you that you’ve developed feelings… He’ll think me a loose woman.”

“A loose woman?”  Yashiro coughed on a sip of tea.  “If Ren was that hypocritical--”

Kyoko narrowed her eyes and her grudges started to swim around her.  “You’re right.  He’s a playboy of the worst sort.”

“So she wasn’t bluffing. She did tell you what happened a couple of years ago.”

The grudges vanished with a pop, and she looked at Yashiro in surprise.  “You knew?”

He bowed his head.  “It was my job to know, just in case there were any messy entanglements that needed to be rectified, but Ren was, usually, fairly choosy.”  He sped up as the grudges began swirling again and made the room drop in temperature.  “He hasn’t done that since.  There may have been one other, but then nothing.”

Kyoko swallowed and lifted the teacup to her lips with a shaky hand.

“There’s only one girl that Ren has never disclosed what has happened between them with me.  Just one in all the time that we’ve worked together.”

“I bet she’s in high school.”

Yashiro raised a brow in an unasked question, but continued.  “In fact, she is.”

Kyoko closed her eyes.  Her heart was aching again.  She preferred the anger.  She wanted to be alone, but she wasn’t.  She was in front of the one man who could ruin everything.  The president had promised to keep her secret, but she doubted that Yashiro would.  She should ask anyway.

“Yashiro-san?”

“Yes?”

She looked at him.  She knew the pain must have shown in her eyes, because he frowned.  “Please don’t tell him.  If we’re friends at all, please, please don’t tell him.”

He sighed.  “I was never planning to.  It’s tempting, though, to be honest.  He’s been in such a foul mood.”

“Why?”

Yashiro tapped the edge of his teacup with his fingers.  “Well, a couple of reasons.  There’s the fact that Murasame-san is playing the samurai in ‘The Lotus in the Mire’.  That bothers him.  And then there is the fact that you went on a date with Murasame-san.  Then that you went on a date with Ishibashi-kun.  And then that Morizumi-chan said something to you that he wished she hadn’t.  But mostly, I think, he’s in a bad mood because you won’t talk to him.”

Kyoko just stared at Yashiro.  “Why would he care if I go on dates?  Is it because he already thinks me a loose woman?”  And how could he think that when she still had no experience in  _ those _ things?  She didn’t even have interest in those things except with Tsuruga-san.  Just the thought annoyed her.

“No.”  Yashiro paused.  “He doesn’t.  Not at all.”

“Am I supposed to get his approval for the people I date?  Isn’t that a bit… feudal?”

Yashiro chuckled.  “No, I don’t think that he wants you to ask permission before you go on dates.  He doesn’t want you to date other men at all, to be honest.”

“It’s experience!  Valuable life experience.  The way conversations that you’ve had a million times suddenly become hard.  Or how you discover unexpected shared interests or life milestones.  They’re valuable experiences that I need to have if I’m to become a better actress.”

“I just think he’d rather you have those sorts of experiences with him, not another man.”

“Well, he can’t be so selfish!  He can’t demand all my life experiences when he’s not my lover.  And he certainly can’t demand them when he’s in love with someone else!”  Kyoko locked her jaw and looked away.  She was ashamed of her outburst.  Absolutely ashamed.  She stood up.  “You can finish your tea.  I’ll come back and straighten up later.”  She bowed.  “I have to leave.”

Once the door to the Love Me department closed behind her, she made her way to the exit as quickly as she could without breaking out into a run. But once she was out the doors, that’s exactly what she did.  She ran.

***

Yashiro was waiting for him near the garage entrance.  He looked troubled and was tapping his key with one finger.

Ren readjusted his satchel on his shoulder.  “Are you ready to go?”

His manager nodded and started toward the car, but didn’t say anything.

“Is… is something wrong?”

Yashiro sighed and unlocked the car.  “Very much so.”

Ren took a deep breath as he slid into the back seat and waited while Yashiro got behind the wheel.  “Are you going to tell me, or is this going to be a very awkward car ride?”

They pulled out of the garage.  “Both.”

“Both?”

Yashiro nodded.  “Both.”  And then paused.  “There are many things I promised not to say, but I had a little chat with Kyoko-chan while you were in your interview.”

“You did? Why?”  Ren narrowed his eyes.  “I thought I said that you shouldn’t get involved in this.”

“You did, but, well, your mood is taking a toll on your jobs, and I thought if I could convince Kyoko-chan to talk to you…” He trailed off.

It made Ren sad.  “So she’s that mad?  About Kimiko-chan?”

“No, I don’t think so.  She is mad, but not as mad as… something else.”  Yashiro caught his eye in the rearview mirror for a second.  “Though I would suggest not calling her Kimiko-chan in front of Kyoko-chan.  You don’t even use Kyoko-chan’s first name, the familiarity will... hurt.”

“She hasn’t given me permission.”

“Have you ever asked?”

Ren paused.  “No, but I don’t think she would give it anyway.”  His conversation with her as Corn in Guam played in his head.  Tsuruga-san was definitely not allowed to call her just Kyoko, or even Kyoko-chan.  For reasons that he still didn’t understand.  “Does it matter, since she’s not speaking to me anyway?”

“I think...  Well, honestly, I think you’re going to have to talk to her first.  She’s not going to go to you.  Not this time.”

“Why not?”

Yashiro tapped his finger on the steering wheel.  “Can’t say.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.”  He paused.  “Did you tell Kyoko-chan that you were in love with someone at some point?”

He shook his head.  “No.  I can’t even imagine that conversation.  The only people I’ve actually told are, well, you.”

“You never told me.  I just knew.”

Ren ignored him.  “The president.”

“You never told him.  He just knew.”

Ren ignored him again.  “And the chicken at TBM.”

“The chicken?”  Yashiro frowned, Ren could see the confusion on his face in the mirror.  “The one that visited at TV Japan?”

“That’s the one.”

“The chicken doesn’t work at TV Japan?”

Ren shook his head.  “No, he’s some mascot for one of the shows at TBM.”

“The only show that has a chicken for a mascot at TBM is Kimagure Rock.”

The car was silent for a long time.

“No, she couldn’t be.”  Ren shook his head.

“Does the chicken know the age of the girl?”

“Well, we talked about how she was in high school.  This was back when I was working on Katsuki and the chicken was pointing out the similarity between the two.”  He paused.  “Then he told me to go and seduce her for the sake of my job.  It was rather disturbing.”

The car was silent some more.

“Ren?”

“You’re going to tell me that Mogami-san’s the chicken, aren’t you?”

Yashiro nodded.  “I think she just might be, yes.”

***

Hikaru ran over with a bottle of Pocari Sweat and pushed it into Kyoko’s hands.  “Kyoko-chan, are you all right?  Did you really run all the way here from the LME offices?”

Kyoko dragged in deep gulps of air.  “I… I… I…”

“Just drink something.”  He rubbed her back.

Kyoko lifted the bottle to her mouth and took a gulp.  Then another.  And another.

“Why would you do something so foolhardy?  You aren’t on a ridiculous training regimen, are you?  Like when you said you were dieting while you were playing Natsu?”

Kyoko shook her head.  “I just felt like some brisk exercise.”

Hikaru sighed next to her.  “This was not brisk exercise.  Are you going to be able to play Bo tonight?”

She nodded.  “Just give me a couple of minutes and I’ll go and get ready.”

Yuusei walked up to the pair.  “You don’t have to bother.  The guest we lined up cancelled at the last minute.  They’re trying to find another one to fill in, so we’ll either be going late or we’ll have to reschedule filming for later in the week.”

Hikaru sighed.  “But it’s good in a way, right?   Kyoko-chan will get a chance to catch her breath instead of jumping right into that bulky costume.”

The producer came up to them.  He was grinning ear to ear.  “You’ll never believe who I ran into in the lobby.”

By this point Shinichi had also joined the group.  “Who?”

“Tsuruga-san.”

Kyoko shook her head.  She had a very bad feeling about where this was going.  

“I was telling him about what happened with our guest and he checked with his manager, and said that he had some time if we’d like him to fill in.  Said something about supporting other LME talent and that he was a fan of the chicken.”

Kyoko’s face, which had been red from all the running, lost all color.  Hikaru blanched, too.  “Kyoko-chan, you’re not going to pass out are you?”

She shook her head.  “No.  I’m fine.”  She should have lied and agreed with Hikaru because then she wouldn’t have had to play the part of Bo.  Why did she always speak without thinking?

***

Hikaru laughed.  “So when I was a kid, my favourite game was “Cookie on the Forehead”. Do you remember it?”

Ren chuckled.  “I can’t say that I do.”

“Really?!”

Yuusei jumped in.  “It’s the game where everyone gets a cookie and puts it on their forehead, and you have to just use your face muscles to get it to your mouth.  The first person to eat their cookie wins.”

“I wish I had known about it when I was a child.  I think I would have had fun.”

“Well, it’s not too late!”

Bo came out with a large pyramid of stacked cookies.

“Bo, are you going to play too?”

The chicken head bobbed.

“Is that why you brought out so many cookies?  You’re planning to win them all and eat them?”

Bo rubbed his fat tummy with glee.

Ren was surprised that she could make the chicken emote so well.  Watching Bo’s performance, it was rather obvious to him that Kyoko was inside the suit.

They all stood around, put cookies on their foreheads and started the game.  The members of the audience were twittering.  While Ren wasn’t the planned guest, a majority of the audience were fans of his.  He knew he had to look ridiculous, but that was part of the fun of variety shows.

He glanced over at Bo when the audience started laughing.  Since the chicken suit didn’t have facial muscles, Bo was “cheating” by flapping his wings and running around in a circle.

“Bo, no cheating!”  Hikaru scolded.

Bo hung his head and the cookie toppled to the ground.

“Bo loses!”  Hikaru started happily munching on his own cookie.  “And I win!  Who will come in second?”

Ren managed to get the cookie in his mouth a second before Shinichi and Yuusei came in last.  They all laughed.

***

Tsuruga-san cornered her right after the show ended.  If she was really lucky, Bridge Rock would come up and save her from this very awkward situation.  She didn’t want to have a friendly chat with Tsuruga-san as Bo today.

“Ah.  It’s been a long time since we talked.”

Kyoko dropped her voice.  “I haven’t seen you in your usual hiding place recently.”  She saw Hikaru-kun walk by and he turned his head to give her a strange look.  Probably had to do with her voice change.  She made it a point to never unmask in front of a guest at all.  She usually never spoke either, relying on her whiteboard to communicate.  But with Tsuruga-san she’d always spoken, so it would be strange not to now.

“Well, I haven’t had much reason.”  He paused.  “You do a very good job emoting in that chicken costume, I’m impressed.”

He was impressed by her performance of Bo?  Really?

“In addition, you really read the audience well.  You have a talent for keeping any slumps from becoming obvious.  You must have had to work extra hard today, since I wasn’t a planned guest and things hit some unexpected bumps.”

Why did he have to be so nice?

“I wish I had known earlier since I like to follow your work, Mogami-san.”

Her heart stopped.  How did he know?

She started to shake her giant chicken head, but then stopped and just looked down.  She didn’t want to actually lie to Tsuruga-san, just avoid the truth.

“Really, I should have seen it earlier.  Bo is rather like yourself, but well, I guess I wasn’t thinking about that at the time.”  He raised an eyebrow.  “I feel like I’ve been doing all the talking.”

Kyoko sighed, took the head off of Bo and looked up at him.  “Because I don’t know what to say.”  She pressed her lips together.  “Thank you for the compliments.”

Tsuruga-san looked down at her for a very long time without an expression on his face.  Then he took a deep breath.  “Can we talk?  Somewhere private?”

And that was how she ended up in Yashiro-san’s car being driven to Tsuruga-san’s apartment later that evening.

***

“Coffee? Tea?”

Kyoko nodded.  “Tea, please.”   She was sitting on the very edge of his sofa with her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

Ren sighed.  He didn’t have high hopes for this conversation.  It could ruin all his hopes for the two of them, but not having it, well, that wasn’t an option either.  They were just both unhappy.  He set Kyoko’s tea down in front of her and took a seat a little aways on the couch, his own coffee grasped tightly in his hand.

He sighed again and Kyoko looked over at him.

“You’re angry, aren’t you.  About the fact that I’m the chicken.”

Ren shook his head.  It actually made sense that the one who would come to his rescue was Kyoko, and not some random man dressed as a chicken.  If anything about the chicken situation galled him, it was the fact that he didn’t figure it out sooner.  “I’m not mad.”

“But you told me things as the chicken that you would never tell anyone else.”

Ren took a breath and thought about what she said.  He nodded.  “I did, but, that’s not the case anymore.  I’m more likely to tell you, Mogami-san, things than the chicken.  Especially now.”

She was quiet.  He had a feeling that she didn’t believe him.

“That’s not what I wanted to talk about though tonight.  Morizumi-san told you something that I think upset you.”

She didn’t look at him and instead stared intently at her hands.

“It’s true, what she told you.”

“I thought you hadn’t loved anyone before.”  Her voice was small.  “That’s what you told the chicken.”

“Yes.  Well, what I actually said is that I was told that I had never loved before.”

“By the president.”

“Yes.”  He paused.  “But that has nothing to do with this particular incident.  I didn’t love Morizumi-san.  At any point.  I took her up on an offer, knowing that if I was straightforward and explained that I had no intention of dating her even if she went public, that she wouldn’t say anything because the industry that we work in wouldn’t have looked kindly on such behavior from a young actress.”

“That’s kind of despicable.”

He nodded.  “Yes, it was.  In my defense, we were both over the age of consent, had both consented, and had come to an understanding before anything occurred.  It was more an insurance policy than anything.”  He sighed.  “I was nineteen.  I stopped such behavior before I turned twenty.”

Neither of them said anything for a time.

“Yashiro said that the reason you started dating was because of acting.”

Kyoko looked at him.  “Partially.  Though I was upfront with both of them.”

Ren was surprised.  “You told them that you were only going on dates as acting practice.”

“Yes.”  Kyoko finally looked at him.  “I didn’t want them to misunderstand.  My heart isn’t open like that.”

“Because of Fuwa.”  It was a statement and not a question.

“No.  Not because of Sho and what he did.”  Kyoko paused.  “I’ve come to understand something about that whole relationship.  I wouldn’t be the person that I am now if I hadn’t come with him to Tokyo.  I wouldn’t have become an actress at all.  I’d be living in a ryokan, going to high school and working as a nakai, trying to please Yayoi-san and her husband and hoping for 100s to please my mother.”  She shook her head.  “That’s not the life I want.  It wasn’t even the life I wanted when I had it.”

Ren swallowed.  He hadn’t expected such an answer from her.

“No, Sho is not the reason that my heart isn’t open.”

“Why then?”

She shook her head and looked away again.

There was a stabbing pain in his chest.  “You’re in love with someone.  That’s why, isn’t it?”

She sucked in a little tiny breath.  “And he’s in love with someone else.  And I thought that was bad enough because I’m so jealous of this person who I don’t even know.  The whole reason I can play Momiji so well is the jealousy I have for that person.  But it’s even worse now because I know, I’ve seen what his type is and I certainly don’t fit into that category.”

Ren looked into his coffee cup.  Would she ever be emotionally available for him?  Ever?  “You don’t?”

“No.  Large, round eyes and soft features.  A slender frame and neck.  Soft, long curling blond hair.  Curves in all the right places with impeccable fashion sense.  No, I don’t fit into those categories at all.”  She sucked in a deep breath, and Ren looked over at her.  She didn’t look sad or depressed.  Resigned.  She looked resigned.  “And I hate her.  I hate the fact that this woman had time with him, had an experience with him that I know I never will.  It makes me so jealous and I hate feeling that way.  And I hate him because it happened and because I know it happened and it makes anything that happened between us seem… insignificant.”  She turned her face away.

There was something about the end of Kyoko’s speech that bothered him.  It seemed familiar, but it wasn’t.  And the girl… that could have easily been a description of Morizumi.  He took a deep breath.  She still wasn’t looking at him.  “Kyoko-chan?”  His voice was soft.

He heard her quiet gasp.  “Don’t call me that!  Please.”  And the way her voice cracked.

“Why not?  Why can’t I call you Kyoko-chan?  You let everyone else call you Kyoko-chan.”

She turned her head to face him.  Tears were welling in the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill over.  “Because right now hearing you call me that breaks my heart.”  A tear rolled down her cheek.  “When we were in Guam, I would have…” She shook her head and looked away again.

He stared at her back for a minute.

“Kyoko-chan?”  Her back stiffened, but he kept talking anyway.  “I have a confession.”

She didn’t tell him to stop, but she didn’t acknowledge him either.  He took it as permission to continue.

“I’m in love with you.”

She shook her head.

“I am.  Have been for months.”

She still wouldn’t turn to look at him, so he continued.

“I wanted to erase Fuwa’s kiss from your mind and make it so that you’d only think of me on Valentine’s Day, and that’s the real reason I kissed you on the cheek.  I’d hoped that when you changed the way that you acted out Setsu in Guam, made her more jealous and possessive, it was because you harbored some sort of tender emotion toward me.  I was jealous and angry when I saw you on your dates.”

He swallowed.  “The reason I made you eat that horrific monster is solely because I needed you to write in ketchup on it because of a superstition.  If the girl I loves tells me that I can win, that I can succeed, than I can.”

She shuddered and covered her face with her hands.  It was only then that he moved to kneel in front of her, pulled her hands away from her face, and looked into her eyes.

“I love Kyoko-chan.  You’re it.  The only one that I’ve ever actually loved.”

She sniffled.  “Tsu--”

“Ren.”  The rest could wait.  Just for a bit longer.  “Call me Ren.”

“Ren.”

“You know one of my secrets now.  Tell me yours.”

She looked at him, confusion on her face.

“Tell me who you’re in love with.”

Her face softened and a blush covered her cheeks.  It was the same look she’d given him as Setsu after he promised to live as hers.  

“You.”

He nodded, and took her face between his hands and kissed her.

_ Fin. _


	2. HCJ Side Story:  Sugar Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a short little side story that takes place about a month or so after Hearts Colored Jealousy. Silly and Sweet. What happens when Kyoko needs a lesson about endorsements?

Ren was the perfect gentleman.

And currently, Kyoko sort of hated that about him.

She saw him standing over to the side in the studio where she was filming a CM.  He was talking to a few people, a smile on his face and one hand in the pocket of his jeans.  That hand in his pocket made it so his jacket was a bit pushed back and she could see all the long lines of him.

He was so very tall and attractive.

And she was so very… neither.

She sighed and tugged the edges of her miniskirt down.  It wasn’t like anything was visible, she had on capri leggings underneath, but she still wasn’t used to how short the skirt was.  She took a deep breath.  Even if the costume was uncomfortable, she needed to pretend like it was the most comfortable thing in the world.  She wasn’t to let her clothing wear her.  These were all things that she’d learned while Yashiro-san acted as her manager a month ago.

She’d just finished filming one of the two CMs that he’d helped her choose and negotiate.

“Kyoko-san!”

She looked over at the producer who was hurrying over to her.  She bowed.  “Saito-san.  Was everything satisfactory with my performance?  The director said I could leave.”

“Oh, of course!”  Saito Yumeko was a pretty woman in her forties who looked closer to her mid-thirties.  Kyoko had really come to admire her the last couple of meetings they had.  She seemed so poised and self-assured.  “I was watching your performance and it was exactly what we wanted.  No, I wanted to catch you before you left.  I didn’t realise that you would be getting a ride and I don’t want to keep you waiting.”

What she meant was that she didn’t want to keep Tsuruga Ren waiting.  Kyoko bit back a smile.  “It’s all right, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind waiting if it is for work.”  And she knew that was true.  Ren wouldn’t mind waiting if it involved her job.

Saito-san held out a medium-sized gift bag with two colorful little fabric handles.  Kyoko took it and bowed.  Her confusion must have been evident on her face.

“These are all the products that we used on you for the commercial and some others as well.  Everything in there should go very well with your skin tone.  If you really like something or run out of anything, just give me a call and I’ll make sure that you receive more of it.”  She smiled at her.

“Okay.”  What was going on?

Saito-san said her goodbyes and bowed and Kyoko was left holding a surprisingly heavy bag of cosmetics.  She shook her head and walked over to where Ren was still chatting with some of the crew.  The two makeup artists that had been working on her for the commercial were hanging on his every word.

He noticed her immediately and smiled, cutting his conversation short.  “Are you ready to leave, Kyoko-chan?”

She couldn’t help but return the smile.  “Yes.  The producer just wanted to give me this.”  She held up the bag in front of her and he smiled wider.

“We should stop and get dinner before I take you home.  It’ll be the middle of the rush at the restaurant, and I know you’d rather just jump in and help and worry about your dinner later.”

She gave him an incredulous look.  “And you’d rather not eat at all.”

He laughed and fished his keys out of his pocket.  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get away with skipping a meal again as long as you’re around.”  He turned to the group he had been speaking with.  “It was very nice talking with you all, and thank you so much for taking such good care of Kyoko-chan.”

She bowed and thanked everyone as well, and then she was following Ren to his car.

“So what is in the bag?”  Ren started the car and they were making their way somewhere that involved food.  She wasn’t sure that she should leave the decision up to Ren, but neither did she feel up to making one herself.  If they ended up at a convenience store, she’d have to put her foot down, though.

“Products.  From the shoot, and even other ones.”

“It was for a makeup line, right?”

Kyoko nodded.  “Saito-san said that if I ran out of anything that I should call her and they’d make sure I got more.  I really don’t understand this at all.  Why would they give me free product and make sure that I don’t run out?  I already filmed the CM.”

Ren chuckled and held up a finger before pressing a few buttons on his console.  It was new.  She had a feeling he wasted a lot of money on new toys and gadgets.  She heard a phone ringing and gave him a curious look.

It didn’t last long because soon Yashiro-san’s voice filled the car.

***

“Did you not pay attention when I told you the Studio that Kyoko-chan’s CM was being filmed?”

Ren rolled his eyes and put on his turn signal.  “I understood you just fine.  I actually have Kyoko-chan in the car with me right now.  She had a bag of product and no idea why.  I thought maybe a lesson in Endorsement Residuals was in order.”

“They did it?  They gave her product?”  Yashiro sounded so very proud of himself.  “What sorts of things did they give you, Kyoko-chan?”

From the corner of his eye, Ren saw her dig through the bag.  “All sorts of things.  Eye shadows and lipsticks and blush… Body powder.  I don’t even know what that one is for.”

Yashiro chuckled.  “So, endorsement residuals.  There was a clause in the contract.  I mentioned it in passing, but since they didn’t seem sure they’d be interested in it, I thought it could wait until they bit.  I knew once they saw you in their makeup that they’d go for it.”

“Go for what?”

“They want you to wear their makeup, Kyoko-chan.  All the time, and will give it to you to make sure that you never have a reason not to be wearing it.”

“But why?  I mean, I like it very much.  It’s all very smooth and fun.  It even smells better than most makeup.”

Ren could hear Yashiro’s happy manager voice take over.  “She was born to do this, I don’t even need to teach her what to say.  Kyoko-chan, they want you to talk about their makeup.  That’s it.  Whenever someone asks, they want what you just told me.  And they’re going to be paying you to say it.  This is how an endorsement works.  They give you the product and if you like it, anytime you’re interviewed or asked or even if you put something on social media about it, you’ll get a small payment.”

Kyoko’s eyes went wide and Ren chuckled.  These sorts of little details, Yashiro excelled at.  He didn’t think he’d heard his manager have so much fun in ages.

“They’ll pay me to wear their makeup?”

“Yes, they will.”  He paused.  “So you have a magazine interview next week, correct?”

She nodded.  It didn’t matter if Yashiro heard her or not, he knew her schedule as well as he knew Ren’s at this point.  “The demographic is very much like the one for  _ Kiss Kiss _ .  And like that journalist did, you’ll probably get asked about cosmetics again, except this time you want to bring up  _ this _ brand.  You can even say that you did a commercial for them.  You did a commercial and fell in love with the product.  Then you mention as much as you can without being overbearing.  Give me the name of one of the products.”

Kyoko dug out a little box and flipped it over in her hands.  “Sugar PLUM Fairy eyeshadow.  It’s such a cute name!  It’s even plum in color.”  She was practically giggling as she said it.  It was adorable and Ren felt his heart clench a little.

Ren heard Yashiro pause, and breathe in.  “You’re better at this then Ren.  You’re a natural.”

He couldn’t help it, he laughed.  “She really is.  It was a good choice for her first series of endorsements being cosmetics.”

“Super Manager, Ren.  Super Manager.  Don’t you forget that.”

Even Kyoko laughed.

“One last thing, Kyoko-chan.”

“Yes.”

“Lip gloss, did they give you lip gloss?”

Kyoko dug through and called out a yes when she found them.

“Make sure that you bring that up.  A lot of the girls that read these magazines are bit too young for all the eyeshadow and lipstick.  But lip gloss is right up their alley.  Bringing in girls that will start to like the brand and stick with it as they grow up is important as well.”  There was a change in Yashiro’s voice.  Ren suddenly had a bad feeling about this.  “What kinds did they give you?”  That was not his manager voice anymore.  That was his “teasing Ren” voice.

“A whole bunch.”  Kyoko was too absorbed in looking at the little tubs she had in her hands.  “There’s Cotton Candy.”

They were named after candy.  Ren sucked in a breath.

“Oh, and it says it’s flavoured, too!”

“Really?”  That was definitely Yashiro’s “teasing Ren” voice.  “What else?”

“Cherries Jubilee, Cinnamon Sugar, Vanilla Cream--”

“That one.  Vanilla Cream.  I think you should start with that one.  It sounds very… you, Kyoko-chan.”  He paused.  “I have to go finish some paperwork and eat my dinner.”  Yashiro didn’t manage to hang up the phone before he started laughing, though.

Ren pulled into a lot of a family restaurant near his apartment.  He knew the food wasn’t bad since he’d occasionally order from there.

“Why was he laughing?”

Ren took a breath and looked over at Kyoko.  She was unscrewing the lid of the little tub.  “He was probably just really pleased that they wanted you to do endorsements.”  And then her finger dipped in.  He couldn’t help but stare as Kyoko ran her finger along her lips and then rubbed them together.  Her tongue darted out and slid over first her top lip and then her bottom lip.  He was going to kill his manager in the morning.  

“It really does taste like vanilla and cream.  Usually they taste so fake.”  She even made a pleased sound.

Yashiro was dead.  D-E-A-D.

He coughed.  “I thought we could get some hamburger steak.”

Kyoko smiled at him.  “That would be great, but are you sure that you can go in there?”

Ren nodded.  “They usually aren’t that busy.”

Except they were.  They were slammed.

***

“You can’t eat in there, you’ll be instantly recognized.”

Ren sighed behind his steering wheel.  “Sushi?  There’s a little place up the block that does good takeaway sushi.  We can eat it up in my apartment and then I’ll take you home?”

Kyoko nodded.

***

He really hadn’t thought this through when he’d suggested the sushi place.  If he had, he never would have offered for them to eat up in his apartment.

He watched as Kyoko opened the small plastic bag and started pulling things out.  He had no idea what she ordered, he hadn’t even been listening.  He’d been staring at what she was wearing.  He hadn’t noticed in the studio.

It was still a very Kyoko look, but definitely slightly older and more put together.  The leggings and the very miniskirt were pretty trendy at the moment, as was the looser top that fell off of one shoulder, exposing a bright red strap.

“You look cute.”

She smiled and a blush covered her cheeks.  “Thank you.  I was telling Amamiya-san what Yashiro-san had been telling me about how to present myself, and she offered to take me shopping and help me pick out a couple of outfits.”  She pressed and rubbed her lips together for the umpteenth time since she put on that lip gloss.

He nodded and walked around the counter, stopping in front of her.  He could think about his actions later.

“Is everything all right?”  Her eyes had gone wide.

Before he could second guess himself he put his hands on her waist and picked her up, sitting her on top of the counter.  “You seem to really like that lip gloss, and I thought I’d get a taste of it.”

He stepped between her legs and bent his head and kissed her.  Her arms went up around his neck immediately.  There was indeed a slight taste of vanilla and cream to her lips, but more than that was the taste of Kyoko, sweet and warm.

He put his hand on the back of her neck and kept kissing her between taking little breaths.  He never wanted to stop kissing her.

***

She knew that her whole face had to have been beet red by the time Ren stopped kissing her.

“You really are a bit of a playboy, aren’t you?”

“Are you still on about that?”  He frowned, looking a bit hurt.

She shook her head.  “No.  Well, yes, but not because of that.”  She looked down.  “I was thinking earlier how you’re always the perfect gentleman and well, it was annoying me.”

She felt his fingers under her chin, making her lift her head to look at him.  “Is being a gentleman a bad thing?”

She laughed a little.  “No, but this is nice too.”

He rubbed his hands down her side and settled them on her waist.  She shivered a little.

“So what you’re saying is that you wouldn’t mind if I sampled every one of those lip glosses.”

Her breath caught.  “But dinner.”

His smile was a little dangerous.  “Playboys don’t wait until after dinner.”  He leaned down and kissed her again.  

She gasped when his lips touched her neck right behind her jaw.  She tilted her head a little to side and sighed.  “Are you going to leave a kiss mark?”

His breath was hot on her neck as he chuckled.  “Do you want me to?  It might cause issues at work.”

She sighed, a little disappointed.  “I suppose you shouldn’t then.”

He pulled away and looked at her.  “Did you want me to?  Even if I shouldn’t?”  He looked honestly curious.  “I didn’t think you’d…”

“Be interested in those sorts of things?”

He nodded.

Kyoko felt herself blushing again.  “I’m not not interested.”  She paused.  “I gave you one, after all.  But… I know you have a lot of… experience.”

Ren nodded and stroked her bottom lip with his thumb.  “Does that still worry you?”

She made a face.  “It still makes me a little jealous.  And I’m not… ready for  _ that _ .”

He pressed his forehead to hers.  “Kyoko-chan, I’d never…”  He sighed.  “You’re worth waiting for.”

She blushed again.

“Though if you keep wearing things like that, I can’t promise that you won’t end up with a kiss mark one day.”

“Playboy.”

***

“Did you have a good evening?”  Yashiro smiled as Ren sat down for their morning meeting.

“Of course.”

Yashiro sighed.  “That’s all I’m getting out of you?  ‘Of course’?”

Ren nodded.  A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, after all.

“Fine, if that’s the way that you want to play it, we’ll get straight onto business.”

“What’s on the agenda?”

“For today, the usual, but we actually have something that we have to discuss.  How to break it to your fans that you are dating Kyoko-chan.”

Ren raised an eyebrow.  “Do we have to talk about this now?”

Yashiro nodded.  “At minimum, I need two weeks of time to prep, though a month will be better, but I need to know how.  Magazine or talk show?”


End file.
